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Title: Effect of Employer Access to Criminal History Data on the Labor Market Outcomes of Ex-Offenders and Non-Offenders
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Finlay, Keith
Effect of Employer Access to Criminal History Data on the Labor Market Outcomes of Ex-Offenders and Non-Offenders
Presented: Cambridge, MA, NBER Labor Market Intermediation Conference, May 17-18, 2007
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Crime; Discrimination, Employer; Employment; Incarceration/Jail; Job Search; Labor Market Outcomes; Self-Reporting; Wage Determination; Wage Levels

This paper examines how employer access to criminal history data influences the labor market outcomes of ex-offenders and non-offenders using detailed self-reported criminal history data and labor market variables from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and a dataset I collected on state policies regarding criminal history records. Specifically, are the labor market effects of incarceration stronger and longer lasting in states that provide public access to criminal history records? Do non-offenders who are otherwise similar to exoffenders have improved labor market outcomes when employers can verify their records of non-offense? I test if these effects vary by race in the context of possible statistical discrimination by employers. I find evidence that employment effects of incarceration are more negative and last longer in states that provide criminal history records over the Internet than in states that do not. There is some evidence that ex-offenders have lower wages in those states with open records policies.
Bibliography Citation
Finlay, Keith. "Effect of Employer Access to Criminal History Data on the Labor Market Outcomes of Ex-Offenders and Non-Offenders." Presented: Cambridge, MA, NBER Labor Market Intermediation Conference, May 17-18, 2007.